I'm putting together a brochure that contains both images and text. I'm working in photoshop (not sure if that's the ideal software for this) and I know that I should be working at 300 ppi for images and I think 1200 ppi for text. I'm not experienced in this, so I could be wrong. I've created my file in photoshop to be 11.25" x 8.75" @ 300 ppi (3375 x 2625). Now I'm just not sure what to do so that the text is set up properly and high enough resolution for print.

What formats do you normally save as to be sent to a printer? If I just flatten my photoshop file and save it as a tiff, for example, then the text just becomes part of the image and therefor only 300 ppi.

So, basically I'm wondering how to keep the text separate from the rest and have it at the proper resolution for printing.

If anyone has any advice on how to do this I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

anibal187

12-07-2005, 08:02 AM

Argh crap, I erased the reply before posting it... so here I go again:

The best would be to place the text on illustrator, this way the resolution of the text will be the best for the output method.

What formats do you normally save as to be sent to a printer? If I just flatten my photoshop file and save it as a tiff, for example, then the text just becomes part of the image and therefor only 300 ppi.
.pdf, If you don't have acrobat professional you can convert the file online. Check the adobe site. (http://createpdf.adobe.com/?v=AHP)

Tiff is ok if the text is big.
The best thing to do would be to ask your printer (the person, not the machine :)) about this kind of stuff since it depends on the final output (is it Offset?)

halo

12-07-2005, 01:26 PM

yes, PS isn't the best place to do text in...better off doing it in something like illustrator, indesign or quark etc

David_Web

12-07-2005, 03:26 PM

IIRC Photoshop can save PDFs. You can always test it on a normal printer if it works. If you can, remember to convert the text to vector graphic to it dosen't change.

spmonahan

12-07-2005, 05:42 PM

Just to echo what has already been said:

You're best off setting type in Illustrator or InDesign or Quark.
Ask your printer what formats are preferred. In my experience it has been TIFF, EPS, PDF, or - if you absolutely must - JPEG.

Brandt

12-07-2005, 05:53 PM

Thanks for the replies.

I realize that photoshop isn't really the right software to do this type of work, but since I don't do this kind of stuff very often, if I can get it done properly with photoshop that's what I'd like to do.

I flattened all of my layers in my photoshop file except for the text I kept as it's own layer and then saved as a pdf. I get an option to 'Include Vector Data' with two sub options 'Embed Fonts' and 'Use Outlines for Text'. I just checked the 'Include Vector Data' option left the other two unchecked and hit save. Is this how I should be saving it?

That seemed to work properly, as I can open the pdf in acrobat (just the viewer, not professional) and the text stays nice and sharp when I zoom in really close. I'm not sure about the overall resolution though. When I set acrobat to view the file at 100% it's much smaller then my photoshop file at 100%. I can zoom in to about 300% in acrobat and it doesn't look pixelated, but I'm just a bit confused about what the actual size of the image is in acrobat.

Can anyone help explain some of this to me. Thanks again.

spmonahan

12-07-2005, 06:30 PM

Thanks for the replies.

I get an option to 'Include Vector Data' with two sub options 'Embed Fonts' and 'Use Outlines for Text'. I just checked the 'Include Vector Data' option left the other two unchecked and hit save. Is this how I should be saving it?

You'll want to select "Use Outlines for Text" as that converts the TrueType or OpenType to a path. The reason for doing this is that you may have a font that your printer does not have. If your printer does not have the font, it will be substituted with something else (or sometimes just not show up at all). When your text is converted to outlines it will still be vector but you can guarantee that it will display properly.

I avoid "Embed Fonts" as some fonts are copyrighted and will not embed without proper permission, etc., etc., ... and it ends up being a pain in the ass and converting to outlines is just easier.

NOTE: Once you convert to outlines your text will not be editable any longer. To get around this I save a version with editable text and another "print ready" version with everything set to send to the printer.

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